The Lousy Truth
by eisabelai
Summary: "How do you do it? How can you carry on like nothing had ever happened? He was our world and now he's cold blooded murderer!" Sasuke yelled, unable to understand. Riku knelt down to look him straight in his hardened coal black eyes. "He is not worth our sadness nor our hatred. By dwelling on his crimes we allow him to control us and that is unacceptable." She explained gently.


The Inica Clan has never been very social with other clans or people outside of the their clan. They are not rude, no, not at all. Actually, they are the kindest souls anyone would ever know, they simply enjoy keeping to themselves. There is only one clan they speak to, visit, and are very close with. The Uchiha clan. These two clans go way back, all the way to the very beginning. The Inica's and the Uchiha's had a truce since they were formed, to always help and protect each other. As you may know, the Uchiha clan had a very special bloodline trait, the sharingan, which made them very skilled fighters. The Inica's on the other hand were more passive, they used their bloodline trait to help people. They specialized in medical jutsus, both helpful and harmful.

That is why it was not at all odd to see the head of the Inica Clan walking through the Uchiha compound with a little girl beside her. Everyone they passed gave a small nod of respect and a smile. The little girl walked slowly and gracefully, as she was taught and kept a beautiful smile on her face. But she could not help letting her eyes wonder. This compound was new to her, she could not remember ever having come to this place and thus was delighted to see the Uchiha Fan on the walls, the large houses which were styled differently from hers, and all the people who were practically the opposite of her, appearance wise. Finally they stopped at a door and her mother knocked softly. Almost instantly the door slid open to reveal a woman holding an infant in her arms.

"Mikoto!" Her mother smiled.

Mikoto Uchiha smiled softly at them, "Aisu, how great to see you," she turned towards the little girl, "and you must be Riku. It's a pleasure to meet you. Please, won't you both come in?"

They stepped into the house and followed Mikoto to the kitchen where a pot of tea sat, waiting for them. Mikoto placed the child in her arms on the floor and he began to crawl around. Riku eyes followed him as he moved toward the living room.

"Riku, would you mind keeping an eye on little Sasuke for me?" Mikoto asked, gesturing towards the little boy crawling out of sight.

Riku smiled and nodded, "Of course Mikoto-san."

She quickly went to Sasuke and watched him as he crawled in circles.

"Sasuke-kun." She called out to him.

He looked up at her and smiled a big toothless smile. She giggled and sat near him, folding her legs properly and keeping her back straight. Sasuke quickly made his was to her and she held out her arms to encourage him. When he reached her she took his little hands in her own and lifted him, so that was standing. Sasuke tried to take a step, putting his foot on her thigh. She kept him up as he lifted his other foot and placed it on her other thigh. He laughed as he bent his knees and began bouncing.

Itachi walked out of his room and headed towards the kitchen, knowing his mother was preparing tea for their guests. As he neared the living room he heard Sasuke's laughter and the laughter of another. The foreign laughter was soft and sweet, and he could only assume that it came from a young girl. As he reached the living room he saw Sasuke bouncing on his feet, being held up by his arms. The girl who held Sasuke stunned him. Never had he seen someone so delicate and fragile looking. She had long white-blond hair, her skin was about as light as his, her eyes were a soft pink that matched her lips. She wore a white kimono that had red flower petals scattered around it and a red obi to match.

"Are you an angel..?"

Itachi wondered who had asked such an odd question, and it was only when the girl looked at him that he realized it had been him. His face flushed and he wished with all his being that he could just turn into the wall that he stood beside. To his relief though, she didn't laugh or make fun of him, she simply smiled and shook her head no.

"I am Inica Riku and you are Itachi-kun, correct?" Her voice was as soft as her laugh.

The name Inica was familiar to him. He tried to recall a previous conversation between his parents. It had been sometime last week during dinner. Itachi had been told that his training sessions with his father were going to be including someone from the Inica Clan. As Itachi stared at the girl before him he could only hope that she had a brother and that it would not be her training with them.

"Why are you here?" He blurted.

She seemed slightly taken back by his question but answered nonetheless, "I am here to train with you and Fugaku-sensei."

Itachi could not help the frown that appeared on his face. He knew that there would be no way to change the fact that she would be training with his father and it would be out of place to speak up against the idea. Thus he'd have to find a different way to help her. He pulled forward all that he knew about the Inica Clan and came to a decision. He walked closer to her and Sasuke. Sasuke had began squirming and trying to reach out to his older brother. She gently placed Sasuke on floor and watched him throw his arms out to Itachi. Itachi lifted his younger brother and stood before her, holding out a hand to help her up. She accepted his hand and stood up. She stared into his onyx eyes, unsure of what to say after obviously displeasing him with her reason for being here. Before she could apologize, he spoke.

"The Inica are known for their natural healing abilities. I can only assume that your healing abilities are above standards and you have come here to learn to fight and defend yourself."

Riku nodded. Itachi continued to stare into her pink orbs.

"This will be far more difficult than you expect. My father will not go easy on you because you are a girl or very young."

Itachi searched her eyes for fear or uncertainty. She shifted slightly and tried her best not to show him that she was worried. Despite her obvious lack of comfort, she held his gaze. In her eyes he found her plead for safety. He let a small smile appear on his lips.

"Don't worry. I will protect you..-"

Before he could continue she spoke, "If you will protect me, then I shall heal your every wound."

Itachi nodded. She smiled at him and lightly squeezed his hand, which she had not let go of since he helped her up. A moment later Mikoto and Aisu entered the living room, a man stood tall behind the women.

"Riku, this is Fugaku Uchiha. He will be your teacher." Aisu spoke.

Riku bowed to the man who watched her with obvious displeasure, "It is an honor to meet you Fugaku-sama."

The man grunted in response and turned to Itachi, "Release your brother. We have training to do."

That said the man walked out of the room. Itachi placed Sasuke in his mothers outstretched arms and followed his father, but not before bowing curtly to Riku and her mother.

"We should be on our way now. Thank you very much for the tea, Mikoto." Aisu spoke, taking Riku's hand into her own.

"Take care Aisu. And I will see you soon, eh, Riku?" Mikoto smiled.

Riku nodded and bowed before following her mother out the door and away from the Uchiha compound.


End file.
